The iconic cross atop Ireland's highest mountain has been cut down in a scene of shocking vandalism.

Gardai have launched an investigation after the Christian cross on Carrauntoohil, Co Kerry, was hacked down with what is believed to be an angle grinder at some point before Saturday morning.

Mountain guide Piaras Kelly, of KerryClimbing.ie, arrived at the summit yesterday morning and confirmed that it had been felled, with only one foot of the cross left in the ground. The rest had been pushed westwards onto the nearby rocks.